Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a striping apparatus, and more particularly to a striping apparatus adapted to mark athletic fields and other surfaces.
Current marking devices for athletic fields are generally carried on a wheeled platform or cart that is manually pushed by the operator back and forth along the surface to be marked, which naturally becomes quite tiresome if the field to be marked is large and even more tiresome if performed in high temperatures. As a result of this, the tank carried on the platform or cart generally has a small volume capacity or is only partially filled with the marking fluid so that it is light enough to allow the operator to manually maneuver the marking device as required. Consequently, the tank may not have the capacity to allow the operator to complete the marking requirements without having to stop and refill the tank with the marking fluid. Additional stops required to refill the tank obviously increases the time to mark the field, and the manner of refilling the tank with the marking fluid is generally messy and therefore undesirable from the operator's point of view. Further, the tank is pressurized by a hand-actuated pump.
Another disadvantage of the current marking devices is that they do not provide a separate hand-held spray nozzle with which the operator may draw designs, logos, numerals and the like, such as a school's emblem or logo and line and yard markers on a football field. With these particular marking devices the operator experiences great difficulty in manually maneuvering the marking device to complete a design, logo, numeral and the like.